Charles M. Payne (1873–1964) was an American cartoonist best known for his popular long-running comic strip ''S'Matter, Pop?''. He signed his work C. M. Payne and also adopted the nickname Popsy. In 1896, Payne was employed at the ''

Pittsburgh Post The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the All ...

''. ''Coon Hollow Folks'', his first comic strip, was followed by ''Bear Creek Folks'', ''Scary William'' and ''Yennie Yonson''. He created ''Honeybunch's Hubby'' (originally titled ''Mr. Mush''), for the ''

New York World The ''New York World'' was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers. It was a leading national voice of the Democratic Party. From 1883 to 1911 under pub ...

'',Holtz, Allan
"Obscurity of the Day: Honeybunch's Hubby,"
''Stripper's Guide'' (September 16, 2013). and in 1911, he drew ''Peter Pumpkin'' for ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

''. His 1910 strip, ''Nippy's Pop'', was later retitled ''S'Matter, Pop?'' Initially carried by the

Bell Syndicate The Bell Syndicate, launched in 1916 by editor-publisher John Neville Wheeler, was an American syndicate that distributed columns, fiction, feature articles and comic strips to newspapers for decades. It was located in New York City at 247 West 4 ...

, it ran from 1911 to 1940. During the 1920s, ''S'Matter, Pop?'' was a Sunday strip in the ''New York World'', followed by decades as a

daily strip A daily strip is a newspaper comic strip format, appearing on weekdays, Monday through Saturday, as contrasted with a Sunday strip, which typically only appears on Sundays. Bud Fisher's ''Mutt and Jeff'' is commonly regarded as the first daily c ...

in '' The Sun''. In the early 1930s, ''S'Matter, Pop'' and ''Honeybunch's Hubby'' (which returned from a 20-year hiatus) spent times alternating as the main strip and the topper strip. Say, Pop! family panel 1917

Traveling with his wife and two daughters, Payne spent the summer of 1915 in Los Angeles and Southern California, where he planned an automobile trip to the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Diego. He was a member of the Southern California Camera Club, and in 1920, he exhibited photographs he had taken at remote locations in the Arizona desert. In 1964, Payne died in poverty.

Bibliography

Bibliography of Charles Payne's comic strip work: * ''Bear Creek Folks'' (aka ''Coon Hollow Folks''), Sunday: Oct 9, 1904 - June 10, 1906 * ''Scary William'', Sunday: Nov 26, 1905 - June 3, 1906 * ''Little Possum Gang'' (aka ''Wild Scenes in Possum Hollow''), Sunday: April 4, 1909 - Dec 1, 1912 * ''Honeybunch's Hubby'', weekday: Nov 27, 1909 - March 30, 1911 * ''Chantecleer -- He's a Bird'', weekday: March 3, 1910 - Sept 1, 1910 * ''Kid Trubbel'', Sunday: Aug 7, 1910 - Dec 22, 1912 * ''S'Matter, Pop?'' (aka ''Nippy's Pop''), daily/Sunday: July 12, 1911 - Sept 21, 1940 * ''Peter Pumpkin'', Sunday: July 16, 1911 - Nov 5, 1911 * ''Little Sammy'', Sunday: Nov 29, 1914 - Jan 31, 1915 * ''Say, Pop'', daily/Sunday: Jan 2, 1918 - 1921 * ''Little Johnny Bear'', Sunday: Jan 2, 1927 - April 12, 1931 * ''Honeybunch's Hubby'', Sunday topper: April 19, 1931 - 1936

References

1873 births 1964 deaths American comic strip cartoonists American comics artists {{comic-strip-creator-stub